Christmas Capers Before Thanksgiving
by Loonyloops
Summary: Dean is scared of an elderly man and Sam is scared by a Christmas tree. This takes place before they find the bunker. NO SLASH.


**A/N This was hastily edited so if there is anything that needs fixing, let me know. And, no, I do not own _Supernatural, Lord of the Rings_ or _Lavern &amp; Shirley._**

St. Petersburg, Florida

_ This is going to suck._ That was the first thing that came to mind when Dean saw the group of people coming toward him. _Are they? Oh God, they are._

The group of about thirty senior citizens and employees shuffled toward him slow enough he could have made an escape, but he just stood there, frozen. He just knew he was in for a reaming. Old people were never nice, especially after the demon of the week he and Sam had been chasing had trashed their rec room. Sam was still unconscious in the middle of all that mess as far as he knew, but it didn't look too bad, relatively speaking. As soon as he could get away from this bunch, he was going to drag his brother to the car and make a run for it.

_Oh no! It's a veteran. He looks like a tough old bird. He's going to rip me a new one._

"Son, before you go, we just wanted to say thank you. It has been a long time since anyone has stood up for us old geezers, even longer since we could stand up for ourselves. Not that we would have known what to do because that was some crazy stuff back there. You and the big fella took quite a beating to help us out, and we appreciate it. Mabel has been a horse's behind for a while now. She used to be real nice. So, we're glad she's going to be okay, and not like she had been. I've seen a lot of things in my life, but I've never seen black eyes like that. Just what exactly happened to Mabel, and how did you stop her?"

Dean could hardly think. That was definitely not what he was expecting. "Uh…Well, sir, she was possessed by a demon. You can either exorcise it or you can kill it with a special knife. My brother exorcised it. We can help you make it so no more demons can come in. That is, uh, if you want."

"Darn tootin'. We can't have our rec room busted up again. Costs too much money to replace all that stuff. And I'm already up to my eyeballs in tinsel. I don't want to give Violet, Midge and Alma an excuse to buy more."

Dean smiled and nodded his head. "Can't argue with that."

As he turned from the geriatric crowd they started getting louder. Suddenly on alert he turned to see a slightly dazed and blushing Sam walking toward him. "So, what's with the cheers? We never get an applause for destroying something."

"Apparently we're their heroes today. Oh, and  
I offered to help them ward the place, so give me a hand."

The group had made it to the door by the time the Dean and Sam had all their warding supplies gathered.

"They're not going to get mad when we start paining their floors are they?"

Dean had no idea so he just shrugged as they headed inside the retirement community. The crowd was waiting for them in the trashed rec room. He explained how the devil's traps and exorcisms worked. Dean enlisted a man in a wheelchair to show him all the exits so he could start painting. Sam recruited a few people to show him the community's sound system and made sure they all knew how to use it before downloading a copy of his sound file of an exorcism. The ladies of the community found welcome mats and other rugs to cover "such ugly décor". Sam had pitched in to clear up some of the heavier debris while the employees started putting things back in their rightful places by the time Dean had made his way back to the central meeting room.

"Son." Dean jumped when the old veteran clapped a hand to his shoulder. "We can't thank you enough for all you have done. The two of you could have packed up and shipped out and left us with a mess and a bunch of questions. But you stayed and helped us out. That takes a kind heart. Ya'll are good kids."

"We were just doing our jobs…sir."

"Take the compliment. You earned it."

"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir."

200 Miles Later

"Hey, Dean. Do you think maybe we should have tested everyone at that retirement community? You know, just to make sure there were no other demons hiding out."

"That lady with the walker gave you cookies didn't she?"

"What? No. Well, yes, but don't we owe it to them to check?"

Dean was about to tell Sam that they had done their job and now the job was over. It was best to get out of town quick. Then he thought about the man in the wheelchair with the kind eyes and the veteran with his compliments. "Yeah Sammy, I think we do," he said as he turned the Impala around.

200 Miles Later…Again

It was a little after one in the morning when Dean parked the Impala a few blocks from the retirement community. The plan was to get in and out as quickly as possible, hopefully without waking anyone up. They checked the first devil's trap and noticed a big scratch through the outer circle.

"Crap. I knew this was going to suck. Quietly they retraced their steps to get more paint. They made quick work repairing all the sabotaged devil's traps and were packing away their supplies when Sam noticed something move out of the corner of his eye.

"Did you see that?"

Pulling out his gun, Dean turned to face Sam, who had also drawn his gun. There was nothing out of place. The seniors had put everything back together in the time that they were gone. The rec room was once again softly glowing in the light from the Christmas tree, but still, nothing seemed out of place. Dean motioned to Sam to begin searching to the right while he went to the left. Ten minutes later they had searched the entire building. They were lucky to not have found whoever had messed with the devil's traps.

"The sound system is connected to all the rooms," Sam said. "So, why don't we hook it up to play an exorcism just to make sure? We can play it quiet enough to not wake anyone up. That way we get everyone at once and not run the risk of running into another demon."

"Alright, but hurry up. I swear that Christmas tree is looking at me. I don't know why we didn't do this the first time we were here."

"There is definitely something in here, but we didn't find anything. Just keep a look out while I do this."

Dean stood guard while Sam set to work and played the recording. They heard a scream down the west corridor that told them there had indeed been another demon to keep Mabel company. Nodding to one another the brothers gathered their things and erased all evidence of their visit.

"Sam, that tree was on the other side of the room a minute ago, right?"

Sam looked at the tree and then to the other side of the room, taking in all the Christmas tree debris and once again pulled out his gun. "I think you're right. It is looking at us."

"What do you think? Some kind of tree fairy?"

"What? No."

"Unless Mabel's friend let it in after we left."

Sam nodded before scanning the room once more. "There's nothing here Dean, except the tree."

"Well, it didn't walk over here by itself There's no such thing as ents."

"Ents? You watched _Lord of the Rings_ last night, didn't you?"

"Maybe. That's not the point. The point is something moved the tree, and we need to know what it was."

"Uh huh." Sam rolled his eyes at his brother before walking cautiously toward the tree, gun first. He circled it before exchanging his gun for his flashlight. "I think I see something."

Sam leaned closer to the tree shining the light into it. Two sets of eyes blinked back at him, startling a yelp from him. He barely managed to stay on his feet as he stumbled into his brother. He righted himself and looked into the tree for a second time with Dean curiously looking over his shoulder. Clinging to the innards of the tree were two white and brown cats, each one wearing a purple collar with a name tag.

Dean smirked, "I told you the tree was watching me. But how did it get from there to here?"

Sam reached in the tree and detangled one of the cats. "It looks like they got tangled in the lights. Poor things. It must have scared them when the tree started to follow them."

He handed the emancipated cat to Dean and reached in for the other one.

"Hey there…Lavern. Lavern? Really?"

"Well, this one is Shirley, so I guess it makes sense."

"Now what? Monsters are easy, but cats, they want to take over the world."

"No more internet for you Dean." Sam said. "Why don't we shut them in the closet?" This earned him a look. "Just until we're finished putting the tree back. Then we can let them out when we leave."

"Fine. Let's get this done before someone comes looking for them." Holding Lavern in one hand and opening the closet with the other, Dean looked to Sam, who had Shirley cuddled to his chest. "Okay, on three. One…two…three." They tossed the cats into the closet and Dean slammed the door.

Sam looked a looked a little sad. "Did we just throw two cute cats in a small, dark closet and close the door?"

Dean looked around and flipped a light switch. "There, now it's not dark anymore. Besides, it's just for a few minutes, right?"

"Okay."

The Christmas tree had left a trail of lights, tinsel and ornaments on its cat assisted trek. Quietly Sam and Dean moved the tree back to its home in the corner. Then they replaced all the lights and ornaments that had jumped ship during the voyage.

"Hey Sammy, I think this is the first time we have ever trimmed an actual tree and not just a little crappy tree, but a real one. Merry Christmas!"

"Yeah. Except it's not Christmas time yet. Thanksgiving is still three days away."

Dean smiled, "You're not ruining this for me." He looked around. "You think we should sweep up this tinsel?"

"Probably. Where do you think the brooms are?"

They both looked toward the cat closet.

"I say we leave the tinsel and free the cats on our way out the door," Sam said.

"Wait. Let's put all the paint outside the door first so we can make a clean get away."

"Good idea."

With their things once again gathered up they moved to the back door. Dean took the bag while Sam went back to the closet. Exchanging a nod with Dean, he took a deep breath and opened the door. Shirley hissed at him before running straight at his legs. Sam jumped to avoid the furry ball of anger. Lavern just sat there watching him.

"Come here girl. You don't have to stay in here anymore." He crooned as he knelt towards the cat. "I'm not going to hurt you."

As soon as he was within striking distance Lavern hurled herself at him. She used his face as a launching pad for her escape, straight for the tree. Dean laughed at Sam all the way to the car. He laughed as Sam wiped away the blood from the three claw marks on his forehead and nose. He laughed for the next fifty miles.

200 Miles Later…One More Time

In the early morning light Dean got a good look at Sam's face, and started laughing again. The scratches were a good reminder of the surprised look on his brother's face when Lavern had come at him. He smiled at Sam's sleeping, scratched face as he pulled into the motel parking lot. He thought about the nice man in the wheelchair, the veteran's kind words and the lady's heavenly cookies that Sam had shared. It made his smile even bigger knowing they had helped good people. He only hoped Lavern and Shirley had not moved the tree again.

He woke up the desk clerk and got a room before returning to the car for his bag and his brother. He took great pleasure in slamming the car door after retrieving his bag. Sam jumped awake and frowned at Dean's smile. He too grabbed his bag and followed his brother into the dingy room. It was not much, but it was the closest thing they had to a home.

"Hey Sammy. How about we stay here until after Christmas? We could even get a nice little tree to decorate, but not until after our Thanksgiving turkey TV dinners."

"That sounds nice Dean. Goodnight."

"Goodnight Sammy."

Dean fell asleep thinking of all the things they could do to make their Christmas tree the best.

**A/N I have another story ready to go. So, after the holiday I will start getting that one out. For all those in the US, have a happy and safe Thanksgiving.**


End file.
